Bob Corker on repeal: “The fact is that’s not going to happen, OK?”

posted at 5:39 pm on April 1, 2010 by Allahpundit

Sounds like the retreat is in full swing now. Thank goodness we have principled conservatives like, er, John McCain still pounding the table for repeal — and, of course, for sending the National Guard to the border. If only that primary race with Hayworth could last forever…

In the immediate aftermath of the reform’s passage, many of Corker’s Republican colleagues, including 2008 presidential contender Sen. John McCain, have pledged to repeal the legislation. Corker described that as unlikely, given the reality of needing 67 votes in the Senate to overcome a presidential veto of repeal legislation.

“The fact is that’s not going to happen, OK?” Corker told dozens of people at Vanderbilt University.

Still, Corker made clear his opposition to the legislation and spoke in favor of continued, incremental legislative reform in future years to correct problems he foresees.

If the argument was that the GOP will repeal O-Care next year, then of course he’s right. Sixty-seven Republican votes in the Senate is a pipe dream. The thing is, no one’s making that argument. McCain himself is focusing on defunding the thing, which the GOP could have the votes to do. That’s not to say they’d actually do it — we’ve been over that argument before — but they could certainly use it as leverage over Obama to modify the law. The other argument, per Sean Trende, is that you don’t need 67 Republican votes; you need 67 votes, period, and given the number of vulnerable Democrats who’ll be up in 2012, there’s a chance that you could peel away a few centrists like Nelson if the country’s still trending right. That’s still a longshot since Obama will be at the top of the ticket and Dems facing reelection won’t want to face the wrath of an energized base, but like Trende says, if the red wave rolls on for another two years, they may have no choice but to vote with the GOP. Verdict: Unlikely, but not impossible.

Blowback

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Sometimes I get the feeling that there are a lot of people out there who do not understand how our government works. The Republicans are not the ones you need to throw out, none of them..not a one of them voted for this abomination. It is the other party you need to throw out of office.

Terrye on April 1, 2010 at 6:27 PM

It’s also important to remember the games that the political parties play in these legislative messes.

The GOP did the right thing in not voting for it, but, I also realize that the whole process *allowed* the GOP not to vote for it. With statements like Corker’s, it’s easy to see that not all of the GOP was so intent on rejecting the legislation.

Do these clowns know anything about momentum and morale? It is wayyyyy too early to say anything can’t be done, and it takes the wind out of the sails of the whole movement. There’s no reason to manage or lower expectations at this point.

I’m willing to give the dude the benefit of the doubt. Obviously repeal is virtually impossible before 2013. In fact, I’d say there’s a better chance of Obamacare completely imploding the deficit and leading to a forced single-payer system before the next Presidential election.

I will say this though. If the GOP is wavering or noncommittal to the idea of repeal come 2012, then they’re gonna hurt themselves considerably at the polls. They need to differentiate themselves from the Dems. Not just promise to be a little less crappy.

The most important thing right now is winning back legislative initiative. Once we have that, then we can make the Dems go on the record on the individual components of O-Care. How many of them will vote for taxes on life-saving medical devices? How many will vote for the tanning-bed tax? How many will vote for the insurance mandate? How many will vote for cuts to MediCare? Take out all the funding mechanisms and O-Care will be dead by 2014.

Republicans should pledge that if they take back the House, they’ll attach an amendment repealing the individual mandate to every single bill. We’ll see how many of these the O can veto before it become untenable.

Don’t fund it from the House and you don’t need anyone from the Senate as there is no bill sent to them. Nothing for Obama to sign.

Repeal requires the House and either the Senate and cloture or Senate and the President.

De-funding requires the House only.

Really its never a good idea to pick a fight with the House since they have the purse strings. The House is where this begins to end. It is a local fight… each individual must help to find and support candidates who can win on a defunding basis. And a House in a de-funding mood is not a Chamber any President wishes to pick a fight with.

It’s nice to see a sense of realism has gripped some of us here at Hot Air.

The truth is, regardless how much you don’t want to beleive it, an entitlement has never been repealed. By the time we get enough numbers in Congress in our favor, much of Obamacare will be cemented in place and hard and/or downright impossible to move.

We may have to settle for reform of the reforms.

It’s a worthy goal to shoot for and nobody’s saying give up. What I’m saying is at leats be aware of the obstacles we face.

It’s like dealing with a natural disaster that wipes out your town. You’re not going to get things back to the way they were before, but you can clear the debris and rebuild.

The gentle Senator from TN needs to put a cork in it…while an outright repeal of this POS won’t likely happen any time soon, it can be defunded, it can be challenged in the Courts, it can be dismantled piece by piece…

I wonder if Republicans like Corker are just pining for the good old days of the 70s-80s when Congressional Republicans just kind of came to work, cast the occasional vote and left the really hard work to the Democrats.

Corker is still in his first term. If this is the way he feels, it will be his only term. Us Tennesseans are tired of this crap. That is why we have several Dems retiring this year, because they know they don’t stand a chance of re-election. The ones that aren’t voluntarily retiring are deluding themselves into believing that they can weather the approaching storm.

If the Republicans won’t try to give their base what they want, then they stop being a viable party and they will soon be replaced with those who will.

Obamacare is unsustainable. I don’t know how long it will stagger along, getting progressively worse and worse, but the day will come when it collapses in on itself. Considering that the government isn’t paying back any of its debt right now, and that it is only paying on the interest accrued, while continuing to borrow, not to mention the insolvency of both Social Security and Medicare, how long do you think it can hold out before the whole enchilada falls apart?

The Republicans would do better to try to slow it down and repeal it, and the voters had better hold them to it, no matter how reluctant they are. The thought of the alternative doesn’t appeal to me, to put it mildly.

I just wrote Sen. Cornyn. Tomorrow, I will call his office. The thing that makes me the maddest is the fact that the dam Democrats are willing to fight tooth and toenail for their crap, and the Republicans try to run from confrontation. Yes, I know they voted against the healthcare bill, but this fight is going to take time and guts if we ever plan on winning. We must not let down our guard on the Republicans.

Sounds like an admission of political incompetence. The Republicans are lucky this year. The way the Democrats crammed Obamacare through after the people making it very plain they rejected it has made it the gift that keeps on giving for the Republicans in November. Any halfway decent politician should be making hay while the sun shines.

If Corker can’t run against the most unpopular and enraging Democrat bill of the past couple decades, then he should retire quietly and let someone else take over.

Who the hell is Corker and who made him the voice of the GOP? He’s not a little Napoleon who gets to tell the masses what we are or are not going to do. If he doesn’t like it, he can step aside and let others with cajones take his place. We can help him understand we can do whatever the heck we want to do including repeal crap legislation. If he believes that a majority of Americans side with his opposition and he agrees with that assessment then he’s just a seat holder. Why is he there?

Don’t kid yourselves. Republicans in Congress are SALIVATING over the prospect of presiding over a Socialized Medicine system that they didn’t have to vote for.
logis on April 1, 2010 at 10:48 PM

You might be under the assumption that this matters? That we all just vote the Party line. If they wanna do that they’ll get the axe. This is about cleaning it all up. A majority of Americans realize this is not sustainable, and we are playing with a House of Cards. Americans are NOT Europeans. Things hadn’t gotten bad enough for them to pay attention to politics at any extended level. Things have significantly changed. Look around. When things get bad in their pocketbook, and limits to their choices crop up, Americans will get angry. That always means something drastic behind the pulled curtain come November.

Sorry. None of you will make me give up on the American Spirit. It is in evidence not just at home but around the world. You cannot hide that under the cover of Socialism no matter how hard you try. Socialist Democrats have tried to do it throughout history and we always right the train wreck.

How about we send a Bozo hat and shoes to every GOP member, especially the RNC just to remind them what they really are. They wouldn’t know what a fight was if it hit them in the face. I would hate to be their family if this is the way they fight to defend something.

How about we send a Bozo hat and shoes to every GOP member, especially the RNC just to remind them what they really are. They wouldn’t know what a fight was if it hit them in the face. I would hate to be their family if this is the way they fight to defend something.

flytier on April 2, 2010 at 8:00 AM

That’s a good one.

I love hearing a proper ration of anger at the Liars Party.

Is there anyone who thinks the Republican Party would EVER back off on ANY entitlement? These crooks love the power just as much as the Dems. They’re just pitching to a different crowd.

I could be wrong on this, but I don’t believe you need 67 votes in the Senate to over-ride a veto, you do need 2/3 of the House to do so. You need 60 votes in the Senate to move a bill to the floor, however, which may be Corkers contention.

Personally, the Democrats have set the bar for what you really need so I don’t see why, for this bill only, the Republicans don’t pull the same nasty crap on the Democrats and then over-ride the expected veto in the House. After that, then they can seek some consensus on a new health care bill.

I could be wrong on this, but I don’t believe you need 67 votes in the Senate to over-ride a veto, you do need 2/3 of the House to do so. You need 60 votes in the Senate to move a bill to the floor, however, which may be Corkers contention.

Personally, the Democrats have set the bar for what you really need so I don’t see why, for this bill only, the

Republicans don’t pull the same nasty crap on the Democrats and then over-ride the expected veto in the House. After that, then they can seek some consensus on a new health care bill.

I’m sure, if I’m wrong about this, someone will tell me.

bflat879 on April 2, 2010 at 10:24 AM

Looks like you need 2/3rds in the House and the Senate:

Action by both the House and the Senate is required to override a presidential veto. A two-thirds majority vote of the Members present is required to override a presidential veto. If one house fails to override a veto, the other house does not attempt to override, even if the votes are present to succeed. The House and Senate may attempt to override a veto anytime during the Congress in which the veto is issued. Should both houses of Congress successfully vote to override a presidential veto, the bill becomes law.

“Which of the following statements best describes your views about the health care bill that Congress passed this week? You approve of the bill becoming law and have no reservations about it. You approve of the bill becoming law but you think it did not go far enough. You disapprove of the bill becoming law but you support a few of its proposals. You disapprove of the bill becoming law and oppose all of its proposals.”

Approve, No Reservations: 15%

Approve, Didn’t Go Far Enough: 27%

Disapprove, Support Some of It : 31%

Disapprove, Oppose All of It: 25%

Unsure: 1%

“Thinking about the health care bill that Congress passed this week, which of the following statements best describes your view of what Congress should do in the future? Congress should leave the bill as it is. Congress should make additional changes to increase the government’s involvement in the nation’s health care system. Congress should repeal most of the major provisions in that bill and replace them with a completely different set of proposals.” Options rotated

Now the GOP will fight over who can best manage socialized medicine. Just like in Britain. Socialism has never been repealed, never suffered a setback in the West.

keep the change on April 1, 2010 at 9:31 PM

I’m so sick of this “socialism has never been repealed” crap. And utterly fed up with being compared to Britian or Canada or any other country.

This is the United States of America and the people of this country have decided to support our Constitution and vote out, impeach, force resignations from or whatever legal means we can find to get those who disagree out of our governments, schools and civic life. The job will take the rest of our lives and probably much of our children’s lives but I’d rather hand that on to them than the debt and other madness the Dementedocrats and their like are creating.

Saying we can’t repeal this monstrous power grab because it has never been done is tantamount to saying we’ve lost before we begin. Sometimes you’ve got to give up being “realistic” if you want something bad enough. (I know that well: Thank God I’ve never been “realistic.”) So cut the crap!